Breaking the Barrier
by DragonProductions
Summary: "She's not pretty, it's the beauty of a black widow. Adrian, she'll eat you alive!" "Shut up. OK? Just shut up. I actually care about her.As strange as that sounds, I think she likes me too." "Impossible. Massie Block and a nerd like you? It won't work."
1. Preview

**She's the alpha**

_Jimmy Choo stilettos click-clacked down the tiled hallway. Scarlet nails carefully twirled the combination out on her lock. As she reached into it for her books, a charm bracelet glinted on her wrist. Amber eyes sparkled as she touched up her lip gloss in the mirror. Massie Block was ready to take on the school and win._

**He's the Latin-obsessed nerd**

_Bitten-down nails tapped on the keyboard of an ancient but trusted Dell laptop. "C'mon, load. Don't let me down!" Dark brown eyes flashed from behind a curtain of hair roughly the color of maple syrup. A ridiculously huge and incredibly geeky watch reflected the fluorescent lights into the eyes of anyone who looked too closely. Adrian North was not to be bothered._

**And one little grade**

_Kendra shot Massie a death glare across the table. "I don't care what you have to say for yourself. You have failed one test too many. I'm signing you up for tutoring."_

**Will throw them together**

_She looked across the room and straight into a pair of eyes so dark, they appeared to be black. "I guess you're my tutor," she said._

"_I guess you're my student," he replied, his voice as cold as the icicles dangling off the roof._

**What do you do when you've fallen for a nerd?**

"_I think…I think I'm in love with you." Massie choked out._

"_I think so too." Adrian's voice was almost a whisper._

**Starring**

**Massie Block**

"_Gawd. It's not like I'll actually NEED Latin in the future."_

**Adrian North**

"_That's a very untrue statement-Latin can boost your SAT score. So, for that matter can precalculus. Pay attention in class."_

**Claire Lyons**

"_Massie, do you actually LIKE that guy or has that conditioner you use affected your brain?"_

**Dragon Productions presents**

**Breaking the Barrier**

**coming soon…**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Jimmy Choo stilettos click-clacked down the tiled hallway. Scarlet nails carefully twirled the combination out on her lock. As she reached into it for her books, a charm bracelet glinted on her wrist. Amber eyes sparkled as she touched up her lip gloss in the mirror. Massie Block was ready to take on the school and win. Just like she did every day.

"Hey! Massie! Wait up!" Massie's best friend and loyal sidekick, Claire Lyons, caught up to her.

"Hey Claire. What's up?" Massie asked, smiling.

"Just wanted to wish you good luck on the Latin exam today. It's evil." Claire said, before running off to her locker.

_Wait. Back up. I have a Latin exam today??_ Massie panicked for a moment until her calm alpha side took control. It was just another test-she was going to ace it as usual.

* * *

In a very different room at BOCD High, bitten-down nails tapped on the keyboard of an ancient but trusted Dell laptop. "C'mon, load. Don't let me down!" Dark brown eyes flashed from behind a curtain of hair roughly the color of maple syrup. A ridiculously huge and incredibly geeky watch reflected the fluorescent lights into the eyes of anyone who looked too closely. Adrian North was not to be bothered.

"Hey! Adrian!" Adrian's friend, Logan Matthews, ran-well, more like stumbled under the weight of his overstuffed backpack-into the room. Adrian turned.

"Morning," he said, in his usual icy voice. Adrian was an island of his own, floating further and further away from the mainland of BOCD High every day.

"I just wanted you to help me with my Latin-there's an exam and I think I'm going to fail and my parents are going to cut me out of the trust fund if I fail and-" Logan was cut off when Adrian held up one long thin finger.

"One moment. I just need to –aha!" Adrian grinned as the program began running on his laptop. The program-written by Adrian himself-was a virtual T-Rex dancing the flutterwagon.

"What the _hell_ is that??" Logan asked, looking over Adrian's left shoulder.

"It's the flutterwagon. From _Alice in Wonderland_??"

"Oh. I haven't seen the new one yet…" Logan said, pulling a sheaf of dog-eared flashcards with Latin vocabulary on them out of his backpack. "So…will you quiz me?" Logan handed Adrian the flashcards. Adrian sighed. As much as he hated being distracted from his work, Logan was his best friend…

* * *

Massie drummed her fingers on the surface of her desk as her Latin teacher began to walk around the room passing out tests. _Please don't let me fail, please don't let me fail…_

A test landed on Massie's desk and she looked at it. The vocabulary translations all seemed like gobledeegook and she had absolutely no idea how to conjugate _video, videre_ in the present tense. Massie shut her eyes and breathed for a minute. When she opened them again, she grabbed her purple pen and began the test…

* * *

Adrian was once again working on his program, changing the T-Rex into a velociraptor that would also make weird cat-like noises while it danced, and adding on top a sign that said "The Frabjous Day is upon us!".

"How was the test?" Logan asked, taking a bite of his pizza.

"Like all others-ridiculously easy." Adrian said, tapping the keys of his laptop.

"Hey, Adrian, are you going to finish those fries?" Logan asked, eyeing Adrian's cheese fries hungrily.

"No. Knock yourself out." Adrian pushed the plate of fries towards Logan.

"Thanks man, I have hockey practice today and I'm starving."

Adrian sighed and pulled out a pack of Five gum (the wintergreen kind). He tossed a piece to Logan, and began chewing one of his own.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Massie's mouth dropped open as she flipped over the test her Latin teacher had placed on her desk._ A 59!??!?!?! _That was the lowest grade Massie had gotten in her life!

And then another thought hit her. _If my mom finds out, I am so screwed…_

Massie crumpled the test and shoved it into her Coach purse. There was no need at all for her mother to see it…

She pulled out her compact and looked behind her to see Logan Matthews-who was kinda cute if you ignored the puppy-dog face-high-five dorkmeister Adrian North-the biggest LBR in the school. Obviously, Logan had copied off Adrian and gotten a hundred.

_**Lunchtime**_

Claire showed Massie her Latin test. A bright red 100 glowed at the top.

"What did you get?" Claire asked.

"Same." Massie lied, nibbling on a leaf of lettuce from her Caesar salad.

Alicia twisted her hair into a bun and stuck the chopsticks from her sushi into it to hold it in place.

"Kuh-laire, can I see your test? I just wanted to study for mine…" Alicia was a terrible liar.

Claire grudgingly handed over the test.

"Go nuts."

Alicia quickly pulled out a pen and copied Claire's answers onto the back of her hand.

"Thanks!" she chirped, handing the test back.

Claire rolled her eyes. Massie picked at her salad, suddenly dreading what would happen when she got home.

_**The Block Estate, after school**_

Kendra was waiting when Massie entered the house. She didn't look too happy.

"Massie, your teacher emailed me saying you failed a Latin test today. Is that true?"

_Shit, meet fan, _Massie thought. Out loud she said "Yes, it is."

"Can I see the test?"

Massie pulled the crumpled paper out of the bottom of her purse and handed it to Kendra.

Kendra led Massie into the kitchen. "Massie, your father and I were very clear when we said that if you failed one more test, you'd have to have tutoring. Right?"

Massie sighed. "Yes."

"So I asked the teacher if she could set you up for tutoring from that nice boy, Adrian, I think his name is?"

Massie had a miniature heart attack. _I'm going to be tutored by the biggest LBR in the school?????? My life is over._ Again, she said none of this out loud. What she did way was "Mom!"

Kendra shot Massie a death glare across the table. "I don't care what you have to say for yourself. You have failed one test too many. I'm signing you up for tutoring."

Massie sighed. "Fine," she muttered, and trudged upstairs to her room.

She logged on to iChat, and was happy to find Claire online.

**MASSIEKUR:** my mom is a total beeotch. she signed me up for tutoring w/dorkmeister. FML.

**CLAIREBEAR:** ouch.

**MASSIEKUR:** ik. AND i have to spend one day a week after school w/him. that is going to suck.

**CLAIREBEAR: **y do u need tutoring?

**MASSIEKUR:** I didn't actually get a 100 on the last Latin test. I got a 59. Keep it hush, kay?

**CLAIREBEAR: **k. g2g, Todd wants 2 play Cranium. ugh.

**MASSIEKUR: **byeeeeee!

Massie signed off and turned to the depressingly large pile of PreCalc homework waiting on her desk. Life really did suck.

_**The Next Day, After School, The Library**_

The library was a new setting for Massie-she'd never been there before. As she entered, the mean old librarian shot a dirty look at her Starbucks iced chocolate, but she just barged on, ignoring him. All she was concentrating on was surviving this. She'd lied to the Pretty Committee about what she was doing-she'd said it was a doctor's appointment-and she really wanted to get out of here.

She stood on her tiptoes and looked around, searching for Dorkmeister. A shame she'd never paid attention enough to remember what he looked like.

She looked across the room and straight into a pair of eyes so dark, they appeared to be black. "I guess you're my tutor," she said.

"I guess you're my student," he replied, his voice as cold as the icicles dangling off the roof.

Massie sighed. This was going to be a long day…

* * *

Adrian dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands, a bad habit he just couldn't quit. Crescents of blood appeared around the points where he'd broken the skin, but he ignored them, and the blinding rush of pain that followed. He was focused on getting through this tutoring session without killing Massie.

The stupid inane cow was now leaning her head on her fist, too tired to hold it up on her own. An empty Starbucks cup stood beside her as she tapped a purple feathery pen on the desk between them, working out a translation that Adrian could do in his sleep.

She looked up, and met his gaze again, her amber eyes full of hatred.

"Gawd. It's not like I'm actually going to need Latin in the future," she said. Adrian bit his lower lip. _Breathe,_ he reminded himself. _In, two, three, four, hold, two, three, four, out, two, three, four, hold, two, three,four._ It was a technique his math teacher had taught him when he'd had panic attacks in sixth grade.

"That's a very untrue statement-Latin can boost your SAT score. So, for that matter can precalculus. Pay attention in class." Adrian said "Instead of painting your nails or curling your eyelashes or whatever it is girls like you do," he added. It was a statement he would regret.

Massie's eyes flashed with sheer, unrestrained rage. Adrian had only seen that look once-in the eyes of a rabid pit bull. He knew-from experience-to back away slowly and carefully, never breaking eye contact.

Massie stood up, and swept the coffee cup off the table. With the blind rage still in her eyes, she came towards Adrian. "What did you just say?" she asked, her voice sweet as honey, fluttering her black eyelashes. In this lighting, she looked…almost pretty.

_The beauty of a black widow,_ Adrian reminded himself.

"I said that you are a horrible inane cow and that if you applied HALF the time you apply to your makeup to doing schoolwork, maybe you wouldn't need tutoring!!!!" Adrian exclaimed.

Massie looked at him for two long, agonizing seconds, never breaking eye contact. Then, she slapped him.

The sound echoed like a gunshot through the empty library as Massie picked up her books and stalked off, leaving Adrian standing there, a red handprint fading on his cheek.

_That is one messed up bitch,_ Adrian thought, gathering up his stuff and trudging out of the library.


	4. Chapter 3

_**PREVIOUSLY…**_

"_Can I see the test?"_

_Massie pulled the crumpled paper out of the bottom of her purse and handed it to Kendra._

_Kendra led Massie into the kitchen. "Massie, your father and I were very clear when we said that if you failed one more test, you'd have to have tutoring. Right?"_

_Massie sighed. "Yes."_

"_So I asked the teacher if she could set you up for tutoring from that nice boy, Adrian, I think his name is?"_

_Massie had a miniature heart attack. I'm going to be tutored by the biggest LBR in the school? My life is over. Again, she said none of this out loud. What she did way was "Mom!"_

…

_Massie looked at him for two long, agonizing seconds, never breaking eye contact. Then, she slapped him._

_The sound echoed like a gunshot through the empty library as Massie picked up her books and stalked off, leaving Adrian standing there, a red handprint fading on his cheek._

_That is one messed up bitch, Adrian thought, gathering up his stuff and trudging out of the library._

**Chapter 3**

Massie slammed the door to her room and pulled out her PreCalc homework. She didn't want to fail another class and have to spend more time with Dorkmeister than absolutely necessary. She fell asleep on top of her homework after a few hours, and nearly overslept the next morning.

Adrian barely had time to gulp down an extra-strong espresso, which he had programmed his coffeemaker to have ready at precisely 7:30 am, and grab a banana from the fruit bowl on the kitchen table before he had to catch the bus to school. The red mark on his cheek from Massie's slap had faded a little, but half of his face was still bright pink and throbbing faintly. The fact that he woke up early made it easier to avoid awkward questions from his parents, but he'd have to deal with Logan at school. The boy meant well, but he was sometimes a bit too prying.

Luckily, he wouldn't cross paths with Massie until next week, when he had to tutor her again. Adrian shuddered a bit at the thought. Massie was one of the worst people he had ever had the misfortune to meet. And of course, now that she'd crossed him, she couldn't be allowed to do it again.

Massie picked aimlessly at her Caesar salad.

"What's wrong?" Claire asked, shaking the last drops of dressing out on her own salad.

Massie sighed. "Nothing. I slapped Adrian yesterday after he called me a cow."

Claire nearly choked the crouton she was eating. "You're, like, the skinniest person I know!"

"He called me an inane cow. Last night I looked up exactly what he meant and basically he called me a stupid bitch." Massie stabbed a piece of lettuce with her fork.

Claire winced. "And you slapped him?"

"Basically. The weird thing is, I'm not feeling the usual satisfaction I get from slapping people who insult me. I kinda feel like he was right."

Claire sighed. "OK, Massie, I have to come clean. You're smart, but…Adrian's right. You're not exactly the smartest person in the universe and…well…you can be a bitch sometimes. Don't take it the wrong way, though. I'm not saying you were right to slap him, but saying something like that to you was completely out of order."

Massie's head fell on the table. "Is that what everyone really thinks of me? That I'm a stupid bitch?"

"No!" Claire exclaimed. "And anyways, screw them. The only person who has a right to tell you how you can feel about yourself is you!"

"What's that from, Dr Phil?" Massie joked.

Claire smirked. "Actually," she said, "It was from an infomercial. But close enough."

Massie grinned. "You're right-I don't give two shits what that loser thinks of me."

"That's the spirit!" Claire raised her VitaminWater in a toast.

Adrian's head dropped onto his desk in PreCalc. "Ugh," he moaned. "Why do I have to repeat stuff I did in 5th grade?"

Beside him, Logan was having one of his "agh, I don't get this, I'm stupid, I'm going to fail" meltdowns. "Adrian!" he whisper-yelled "Help me out here! I don't get any of this crap!"

Adrian flipped him off without lifting his head from the desk. "Leave me alone," he said, his voice muffled by his notebook.

"Come on, man, wake up! I need your help!" Logan grabbed Adrian's shoulder and tried to shake him awake. Adrian shrugged him off.

"Cut it out, I'm trying to sleep," he muttered.

"Dude!"

Without looking, Adrian raised his fist and punched Logan lightly on the shoulder. "Seriously. Leave me alone, OK?"

"Jeez, _someone's _cranky today." Logan muttered, his voice garbled because he had picked up his pencil and begun chewing on the eraser.

Adrian screamed silently into his notebook. On a scale of one to ten, this was one of the worst days of his life.

When Massie met with Adrian that Wednesday, they were both completely silent for the duration of the meeting. Adrian slid the assignment across the table to Massie, and then fell asleep-once again, he'd been up all night reading.

_He looks kind of cute when he's sleeping_, Massie thought.

Then, she thought _Did I seriously just call him cute? _ Well, he was kind of cute-he had long eyelashes that curled naturally, long-ish shaggy hair that actually worked for him, and his eyes, while sometimes scary-dark, were actually kind of pretty.

Massie shook her head. He wasn't cute, he was dorky. If he'd been cute, she would have been friends with him rather than avoiding him like the plague.

Adrian muttered something in his sleep. Massie busied herself with her translation and tried to erase the idea that Adrian was cute from her mind.


End file.
